Cigarette holder



Jan. 16, 1962 J. v. VASEY 3,016,908

CIGARETTE HOLDER Filed Oct. 12, 1959 United States Patent 3,016,908 CIGARETTE HOLDER Joseph V. Vasey, 8053 Bagley, Seattle, Wash. Filed Oct. 12, 1959, Ser. No. 845,716 1 Claim. (Cl. 131-240) My invention relates to cigarette holders adapted to be attached to receptacles used as ash trays.

The principal objective of my invention is to provide a cigarette holder so designed that the cigarette, as it burns back, will fall into the ash tray and not on the table or floor.

Many a cigarette burn has marred a beautiful and costly table top or covering therefor, and many a fire has been set when a burning cigarette dropped off the holder onto the table.

How I solved the problem and reached my objective is illustrated in the accompanying drawings which are part of this specification.

FIG. 1 of the drawings is a side elevation showing my holder attached to an ash tray with a lighted cigarette as it would ordinarily be set on the holder, FIG. 2 is a partial plan view of the holder and ash tray shown in FIG. 1 without the cigarette, FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sect-ion of the holder taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a similar section taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2, FIG. 5 is an exploded elevaticnal view of the components of the holder.

The above noted drawings are made to an enlarged scale for clarity.

Throughout the drawings and the specification similar numerals refer to similar parts.

My cigarette holder is comprised of three members, namely, the ash tray clamp 1, the hinge pin 2, and the holder 3. My invention over the prior art lies in the holder 3.

The stamping from which the tray clamp 1 is formed is originally cruciform in configuration before its arms are bent at right angles to the plane of the stamping to form the spaced apart upstanding ears 1A for the reception of the hinge pin 2. On each side of the ears 1A the stamping is turned downwardly and oppositely to the ears 1A to provide the clamping legs 1B and 1C and thus form a substantially U-shape structure. The legs 1B and of this U-shape structure are brought toward each other at their extremities 1D to provide tension in them when they are spread apart to receive portions of the ash tray 4 between them. It may be remarked at this point that it is preferable to use stamping material which has some of the properties of spring steel or brass.

Before shaping the holder 3 is substantially a flat oval with the central portion 3A removed leaving only the rim 3B having at one end a stem 5 which, during the shaping of the holder 3 is curled to form the hinge pin bearing 6 which is adapted to fit snuggly between the Fatented Jan. 16, 1962 cars 1A. This oval rim 3B is curved transversely to form a cradle for the reception of the cigarette C.

Many cigarette holders of the prior art have solid bottoms. As a consequence the overhang 7 of the cigarette C, as said cigarette C burns back, falls olf the holder onto the table or floor.

My holder portion 3, on the contrary, is open thruout the major portion of its width and length as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 5. FIG. 1 shows a cigarette C as it would ordinarily be set on the holder 3. As the cigarette C burns back past the holder end 3C, the front end 8 being the heavier, drops Off the supporting end 3C and the cigarette falls thru the central or bottom portion 3A into the ash tray 4 and not on the table or floor.

It is quite apparent that many minor changes may be made in the cigarette holder without departing from the basic idea of the open-bottom portion therefor, I do not limit my invention to the exact disclosure but extend it to all that comes within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A cigarette holder including a substantitally U-shaped member having spaced resilient leg portions biased toward each other and adapted to clamp onto an ash tray, said U-shaped member having upstanding spaced parallel ears having apertures adapted to receive a hinge pin therein and a cradle member having spaced downwardly depending parallel ears at one end portion having apertures adapted to receive said hinge pin therein to support said cradle over said ash tray, the cradle being arcuate in side elevation and being downwardly and inwardly inclined with respect to the ash tray and comprising a first transverse substantially horizontally disposed portion adjacent the ears and a second transverse substantially horizontally disposed portion at the free end of the cradle, said horizontal portions being adapted to support a cigarette thereon and a pair of spaced parallel upstanding arcuate portions joining said transverse horizontal portions, said upstanding portions extending upwardly above said horizontal portions providing an elongated opening between said horizontal and upstanding portions and being adapted to retain a cigarette therebetween, said second horizontal portion being sufiiciently narrow that when a burning cigarette is placed on the cradle member, it will burn therebeyond and fall through said opening into the ash tray.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,106,204 Gross Aug. 4, 1914 1,840,210 Reekers Jan. 5, 1932 2,084,785 Wagoner June 22, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS 2,614 Great Britain 1898 661,016 Great Britain Nov. 14, 1951 

